Clothes hanger attachment



y 1, 1966 F. J. SCHWAB 3,253,813

CLOTHES HANGER ATTACHMENT Filed Sept. 25, 1964 max 770p FI-Z/X J50/11/45 49 QQM/EW v to either air or dry the garment.

United States Patent Claims. 131. 248-339) This invention relates to anattachment for clothes hangers. In particular it rel-ates to anattachment for wire clothes hangers which is adapted to grip aclothesline so as to support and hold the hanger against sliding orturning movement thereon.

It is very common for a housewife to wish to hang a garment on aclothesline by means of a clothes hanger A clothes hanger will, ofcourse, stay on a clothesline provided that there is no wind. However,any breeze will cause a clothes hanger to slide on the clothesline and astrong wind will cause the hanger to turn to such an extent that thehanger hook will come ofi the line. Attempts have been made in the pastto overcome this difficulty by providing some type of auxiliary hook ona regular clothes hanger which is especially adapted to engage aclothesline. One type of such hook is that to be found in United StatesPatent No. 2,494,973 issued January 17, 1950, in which a hook has beenprovided which is integral with the hanger itself. This has thedisadvantage of making the hanger more expensive than a regular hanger.

Various types of detachable devices have also been developed, such asthose described in United States Patent No; 2,692,575 issued February24, 1953 and United States Patent No. 2,915,274 issued December 1, 1959.However, the device of Patent No. 2,915,274 is very complex, while thedevice of Patent No. 2,629,575 has the require ments of simplicity butis difiicult to attach to or detach froma clothes hanger.

I have now developed a simple attachment for attaching to clotheshangers which is extremely easy to attachto and detach from clotheshangers while also being able to rigidly hold the hanger on theclothesline. My attachment is intended primarily for use with a wireclothes hanger of the type which has a pair of oppositely-extending armssupported at the centre of the hanger by upwardly-extending portionswhich converge so as to form a notch, and which are connected by atwisted joint or other means above said notch.

The attachment of my invention comprises a substantially N-shaped stripof fiat material formed such that a straight centre portion is joined ateach end to an end of an outer straight portion so as to form small openangles between the centre .portion and each outer portion. A protrusionis provided between one outer por-.

tion and the centre portion which is adapted to engage the notch in thehanger. The angles and distances between the centre portion and theouter portions are arranged such that the side containing the protrusionwill securely hold a common Wire hanger while the side which does notcontain the protrusion will securely hold a clothesline. The protrusioncan be joined to either the centre portion or the outer portion or toboth and can be rec- Particularly when a pin is used as the protrusion,

plastic the protrusion and projections are generally formed integrallywith the main part of the attachment.

My invention will now be described by reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of my inventionfor supporting a hanger upona clothesline;

FIGURE 2 is a section of the device as shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of myinvention for supporting a hanger upon a clothesline; and

FIGURE 4 is a sec-tion of the device as shown in FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, FIGURES 1 and 3 show awire clothes hanger W positioned in my attachment 10 with my attachmentalso gripping the clothesline L.

The wire clothes hanger W is of the type which has a pair ofoppositely-extending arms 11 and 12 supported at the centre of thehanger by upwardly-extending portions 13 and 14 which converge so as toform a notch 15 and which are connected by a twisted joint 16 above saidnotch. The upwardly-extending portion 13 is continued above the twistedjoint 16 and curved laterally and down wardly to provide a large clotheshanger 17, while the upwardly-extending portion 13 terminates slightlyabove the twisted joint 16.

The attachment 10 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 comprises a strip of flatmaterial arranged such that a straight centre portion 18 is joined ateach end to an end of two outer portions 19 and 20 so as to form smallangles 21 and 22 between the outer portions 19 and 20 and the centreportion 18. A rectangular protrusion 23 is provided between the outerportion 19 and the centre portion 18 and is adapted to engage the notch15 of the hanger W. When the hanger W is in position in the attachment10, the protrusion 23 engages the upwardlyextending portions 13 and 14thus preventing the hanger fro-m pivoting in the attachment and theangle 21 as well as the distance between centre portion 18 and outerpor-' tion 19 are arranged so as to resiliently engage theoppositely-extending arms 11 and 12. The angle 22 as well asthe'distance between centre portion 1 8 and outer portion 20 arearranged so as to resiliently engage the clothesline L.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the attachment 10 has a pin 24 fastenedbetween the outer portion 19 and the centre portion 18 which engages thenotch 15 of the hanger W. This embodiment also shows two projections 25and 26 which extend out from the face of the centre portion 18. Theprojections 25 and 26 are positioned to engage the twisted joint 16 ofthe hanger W in order to prevent the hanger W from pivoting about thepin 24.

It will also be understood that the projections 25 and 26 can also beused with the rectangular protrusion 23 in order to more rigidly holdthe hanger W in the attachment 10.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An attachment for a Wire clothes hanger of the type which, has a pairof oppositely-extending arms supported at the centre of the hanger byupwardly-extending portions which converge so as to form a notch, andwhich are connected by a twisted joint above said notch, comprising asubstantially N-shaped strip of flat material formed such that astraight centre portion is, joined at each end to an end of an outerstraight portion so as to form small open angles between the centreportion and each outer portion, and a protrusion between one outer 3portion and the centre portion which is adapted to engage the notch inthe hanger, said protrusion completely bridging the space between saidouter portion and said centre portion at a point intermediate the saidends of the centre portion. Y

2. An attachment as claimed in claim 1, wherein additional projectionsextend from the face of the centre portion adjacent the protrusion whichengages the notch, said additional projections being adapted to engagethe upwardly-extending portion of the hanger.

3. An attachment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the protrusion forengaging the notch is integrally formed with the centre portion andouter portion.

4. An attachment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the protrusion forengaging the notch is integrally formed with both the centre portion andthe outer portion.

5. An attachment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the protrusion forengaging the notch is in the formof a pin between the centre portion andthe outer portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,623,919 4/1927Hagen 248317 1,637,981 8/=1927 Baldwin 248-32 2,629,575 2/:195'3 Loyotet a1; 248317 2,915,274 112/ 1959 Gustitus 248-317 2,980,383 4/1961Anderson et al 248-317 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. CHANCELLOR E.HARRIS, Examiner. A

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ATTACHMENT FOR A WIRE CLOTHES HANGER OF THE TYPE WHICH HAS A PAIROF OPPOSITELY-EXTENDING ARMS SUPPORTED AT THE CENTER OF THE HANGER BYUPWARDLY-EXTENDING PORTIONS WHICH CONVERGE SO AS TO FORM A NOTCH, ANDWHICH ARE CONNECTED BY A TWISTED JOINT ABOVE SAID NOTCH, COMPRISING ASUBSTANTIALLY N-SHAPED STRIP OF FLAT MATERIAL FORMED SUCH THAT ASTRAIGHT CENTRE PORTION IS JOINED AT EACH END TO AN END OF AN OUTERSTRAIGHT PORTION SO AS TO FORM SMALL OPEN ANGLES BETWEEN THE CENTERPORTION AND EACH OUTER PORTION, AND A PROTRUSION BETWEEN ONE OUTERPORTION AND THE CENTER PORTION WHICH IS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE NOTCH INTHE HANGER, SAID PROTRUSION COMPLETELY BRIDGING THE SPACE BETWEEN SAIDOUTER PORTION AND SAID CENTRE PORTION AT A POINT INTERMEDIATE THE SAIDENDS OF THE CENTRE PORTION.